Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) Hits New 12-Month Low at $13.03

Shares of Compass Minerals International, Inc. (NYSE:CMP) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $13.03 and last traded at $13.15, with a volume of 64320 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Loop Capital cut shares of Compass Minerals International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Compass Minerals International from $25.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.40.

Compass Minerals International Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $545.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.04, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.19). Compass Minerals International had a negative net margin of 4.97% and a positive return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $341.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $352.84 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Compass Minerals International, Inc. will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Compass Minerals International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. Compass Minerals International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -41.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Compass Minerals International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMP. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 89.2% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,352,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,333,000 after acquiring an additional 637,883 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC boosted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 105.8% during the fourth quarter. Magnolia Group LLC now owns 849,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,509,000 after acquiring an additional 436,660 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the fourth quarter worth $5,039,000. Shapiro Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Compass Minerals International by 17.9% during the third quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 1,278,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,740,000 after acquiring an additional 193,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yost Capital Management LP bought a new position in Compass Minerals International during the fourth quarter worth $4,583,000. 99.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc, provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products.